By October 1, 2012, Super Typhoon Jelawat was rapidly weakening and racing away from land over open water of the North Pacific Ocean, after having doused the Philippines and Taiwan, and walloped Japan with strong winds and heavy rain. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the typhoon, packing winds up to 78 mph (126 km/h) was northeast of Nemuro in eastern Hokkaido over the Pacific at 0200 UTC on that same day.

On September 30, Jelawat made landfall at Tropical Storm strength on Sunday evening (local time) in Aichi prefecture. Wind gusts were reported as high as 115 mph (185 km/h) in Okinawa and at least 75 mph at the Haneda Airport in Tokyo. Rain fell at rates to 120 mm per hour (almost 5 inches per hours) according the JMA. It was reported that tens of thousands of homes were without power, and that 21,000 households in Nagoya were under evacuation advisories due to flooding. At least two people were killed in Japan, with over 180 injured, according to The China Post.

On September 29, Typhoon Jelawat struck Okinawa as a Category 3 Typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, with maximum sustained winds of 87 mph (140 km/h) and gusts to 37 mph (60 km/h). It was reported to have knocked out power to about half the island, injured more than 50 people and killed one person.

Although the Jelawat’s winds were strong and the rains heavy as it affected the Philippines (with extensive flooding), Taiwan and Japan, it had weakened considerably from its maximum strength. The storm was at peak strength on September 25.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image of Super Typhoon Jelawat on September 25, as it spun in the Philippine Sea. On that date Super Typhoon Jelawat had maximum sustained winds of 161 mph (260 km/h) and gusts up to 195 mph (315 km/h). Rain bands stretch over the Philippines, in the southwest quadrant of the storm. The eye is distinct and impressive, and the convection near the center appears to be tightly wound around the center. The eye was estimated to be 25 miles across.